The Political Strength of British Agriculture
| Date | 01 December 1969 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1969.tb00745.x |
| Author | Richard W. Howarth |
| Published date | 01 December 1969 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
THE POLITICAL STRENGTH
OF
BRITISH
AGRICULTURE
RICHARD
W.
HOWARTH
University
College
of
North
Wales,
Bangor
I. INTRODUCTION
IN
the period since the decontrol of food in
1954
the taxpayers of the
United Kingdom will have spent
&4,204
million on Exchequer support
to agriculture by the end of the financial year
1969-70.1
This represents an
average annual sum larger than Government expenditure on universities
and scientific research and is roughly equivalent to the yield of one shilling
on the standard rate of income tax or a subsidy of over &1,000 per full-time
farmer.
Although this is not the place to argue the economics of subsidizing
agriculture, it should be pointed out that the economic case for continuing
the present system and level of agricultural support is held to be weak by
many agricultural economists.
If
the economic arguments are suspect,
other reasons must be sought for the continuation of the present support
system. The strategic arguments are mainly of historical nature and the social
case is vague. The political reasons remain. And many farming leaders
strongly believe that governments have powerful electoral reasons for
giving financial assistance to the farming community.
So
too, apparently,
do the three major political parties, for all have continued to pledge them-
selves to subsidize agriculture.
This paper is devoted to an analysis of some aspects of the politics
of
agriculture in an attempt to obtain an objective assessment of whether
or
not the belief
in
agriculture’s political strength is well founded.
An examination of the political strength of agriculture has two
main aspects: first, a consideration of the parliamentary and electoral
power and status of agriculture; second, an appraisal of the influence
exerted on public opinion, Minister and Members
of
Parliament by agri-
cultural interest groups. The first aspect
is
largely quantifiable, the second
is not. It is with the electoral aspects only that this paper deals-in particular,
with the political significance of the agricultural vote.
11. THE SIZE
OF
THE AGRICULTURAL
VOTE
There have been at least three previous studies of the voting strength
of
British agriculture.
A
study
of
the agricultural vote in marginal con-
1
Based
on
the estimates
from
the Farm Price
Review
White Papers
1954-69.
Political
Studies,
Vol.
XVII.
NO.
4 (1969, 458-469).
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